Day 1 of Eat Only Irish for Aisling

This is great! I'm really enjoying this.

I did have to put a little effort into preparing for today though. I can't just pop down to the local halal shop like Oisin over there. I live in Dublin 8 aswell, so I've a real mix of local and ethnic shops around me that I buy from all the time, but that means nothing really this week, since the 'local' shops don't necessarily sell local products. Hence, the need for a bit of forward thinking.

Myself and Luca (one of the other ForFoodsSake-ers) run the cafe in the Dublin Food Co-op on weekends so after work on Saturday I came home with 2 boxes of great items like pak choi, sea veg seasoning, balsamic vinegar, cream cheese, rapeseed oil, apple juice and endless amounts of greens.

Ready for Monday!

Breakfast was a dawdle - Porridge (made with Kilbeggan Oats) and Highland's Orchard Syrup. Delish.

Lunch posed a few more problems.....and probably will continue to do so for the rest of the week.
Luca and I went down to Greystones for lunch in the Happy Pear. Love that place, they always have a great selection of locally grown veg.....but whataya know....not today. Most of their orders are due to come in tomorrow and the season hasn't started yet for all the good stuff like tomatoes, courgettes, etc. I found myself salivating over what everyone else was going to have for lunch, especially when I went into the kitchen and saw the pot of amazing aubergines bubbling away on the hob. So after a shot of wheatgrass, I went about to scrubbing together some munch. Results: sauteed mushrooms, with wicklow cheddar and fresh onion and broccoli sprouts. The lads even let me cook it up in the kitchen (it helps to have friends in culinary places). Punnet of strawberries for dessert.

temptation

strength

sustenance

Dinner was by far the winner....

Despite some severe curveballs by flatmate and friend trying to steer me off track, Ireland pulled through in the end and came up trumps with: 

chunky chips - roasted in rapeseed oil, rosemary from me mammy's garden and sea salt and kelp seasoning

striploin steak - seasoned with the sea veg again, point of contention for the others in the beginning due to lack of black pepper but it was frickin gorgeous 

'Irish' bearnaise - replaced the shallots with leeks, white wine vinegar with cider vinegar, tarragon with a mix of chives and sage.

Best steak dinner I've had in months.